Deepinder Goyal, the CEO of Zomato, on March 19 introduced "Pure Veg Mode" and a "Pure Veg Fleet" on the platform for users who are vegetarian. Under this feature, users will be shown vegetarian restaurants and delivery persons will wear green uniforms. However, this idea received severe backlash from netizens as many people criticised it on various social media platforms. Eventually, Goyal and his team dropped the idea of delivery persons wearing green uniforms. But the option of choosing vegetarian restaurants remains.
After facing the backlash, Goyal has now opened up about how he and his team handled the situation. Speaking to NDTV, Goyal first shared that they introduced this feature after conducting a customer survey. (Also Read: Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal marries Mexican model Grecia Munoz)
He then added, "The way we grew up, we don't know the meanings of these words, what is the historical context, and none of our team (members) know this. We are indifferent to this. I think that's the purest form of letting go of any casteism, any religion, any biases. We went on and made the change. But when we got the feedback, we actually understood."
“We were on a Zoom call for the next 20 hours, just trying to fix anything that we needed to fix. Please note that this Pure Veg Mode, or the Pure Veg Fleet, doesn't serve or alienate any religious or political preference,” Goyal told NDTV.
{{/usCountry}}“We were on a Zoom call for the next 20 hours, just trying to fix anything that we needed to fix. Please note that this Pure Veg Mode, or the Pure Veg Fleet, doesn't serve or alienate any religious or political preference,” Goyal told NDTV.
{{/usCountry}}Goyal, earlier, hit the headlines after his wife, Grecia Munoz, was seen cheering for him at the NDTV Indian Of The Year awards. At the event, Goyal was graced with the Entrepreneur Of The Year award from Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and NDTV Executive Director Senthil Chengalvarayan. (Also Read: Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal thinks this is a bad reason to start a company: 'I don't think that works at all')
Munoz shared the photos from the occasion on Instagram stories. One of the photos shows Goyal accepting the award. In another photo, the two are pictured standing next to one another. Munoz tagged Goyal in this picture and added a heart emoji before his name.